Carleton has put up new signs on the all-inclusive washrooms on campus that can be used by everyone, regardless of gender.
According to Carleton Equity Services’ website, there will be three new types of signs going up. Signs depicting a single toilet will be used for single-stall washrooms that can be used by any gender, but aren’t wheelchair-accessible, according to the website.
Signs featuring an image of a toilet next to a wheelchair will be used for washrooms that can be used by any gender and that are wheelchair-accessible.
Finally, a sign featuring a toilet and the letter ‘U’ means the washroom is wheelchair-accessible and can be used by everyone. These washrooms also include a change table, an emergency button and are “ideal for those members of our community who are accompanied by an attendant,” according to the website.
The washrooms are in 14 buildings and are separate from wheelchair-accessible facilities, according to Equity Services.
Keya Prempeh, coordinator of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Centre (GSRC), said the washrooms give trans people a place to use if they do not feel comfortable in a men’s or women’s bathroom.
“I think they’re important because so often trans people exist in spaces that are violent towards them or that they feel like they can’t appropriately express themselves because of general transphobia,” she said.
“Maybe people stare at you or they ask you questions or face violence,” she said. “Those folks appreciate having those spaces on campus where they don’t have to worry about being questioned just for using the bathroom.”
She said it also shows that bathrooms do not necessarily need to be gendered.
“I don’t see many drawbacks to having gender-neutral bathrooms,” she said. “Sometimes the women’s bathroom will be occupied just because more women need to use the bathroom but the men’s bathroom is empty. We’re all just waiting in line when there’s an empty stall that could be used.”
The Loeb building has nine all-inclusive washrooms, the highest number of all the buildings at the university. In total, Carleton has 35 gender-neutral washrooms, according to the Equity Services website.
Prempeh said the overall student body might not know about the existence of the gender-neutral washrooms, but most transgender people do. While the people who most need the washrooms do know about them, she said they could be better advertised.
“We do a lot of work at the GSRC to advertise those . . . but I think they could be more easily advertised as gender-neutral, even if they just said gender-neutral [on the sign] to make it extremely clear,” Prempeh said.
She said that ideally each building would have two gender-neutral washrooms. She said Southam Hall in particular is a problem, because it is a large building that lacks gender-neutral facilities.
“[More washrooms] would signify that the university is making strides to making the university safer for trans folks,” Prempeh said.
